Bitly Pro verification

To set it up, you need to log on and go to http://bitly.pro/settings where you need to verify two things - that your short URL is yours (I'm using mcol.es) and that the domain you want stats for is also yours.

To verify that the short URL is yours, you need to change the A record in your domain registrar's DNS settings. Your registrar can help you with this, hopefully...

To verify the domain you want stats for (ie where the short URL will redirect to), you need to do one of adding some metadata, uploading an HTML file or creating a CNAME record. The first two are easier ...

As things stand, I'm having no luck with either verification, however.

The key things appears to be to wait. The welcome email says this (which I didn't notice at first as I was too excited):

Please keep in mind that your domain verification process may take anywhere from 10 minutes to 24 hours, depending on your DNS settings and the nature of your website.

First, note that DNS changes can take up to 24 hours to propagate. Also make sure that you are logging in with your bitly.Pro credentials, if they are not the same as your regular bit.ly login.

So the verification of your short domain will take time. You need to change the A record setting then wait. And I can confirm that, after waiting a day or so, this then verified.

This doesn't explain why I can't verify the long domain, especially as UncleWilco and John Garcia can. Hmm.

If you're testing it after it's been verified, note that the root domain redirects to bit.ly - this isn't a bug, as the help text also explains:

Can I redirect the root domain for my Custom Short Domain to my own site?

Redirecting the root domain (for instance, examp.le, with no hash at the end) to a user defined URL is not a feature available in the free version of bitly.Pro at this time. We wanted to give web users seeing a short URL for the first time a way to figure out that it is powered by bit.ly, having the same spam protections and analytics tools. Redirecting the root domain URL to a user defined location will be a service available in our forthcoming premium bitly.Pro Enterprise service.

My advice? Carry out the verifications steps - and then wait!

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4 Comments »

Yes, waiting is the hardest part. I checked your short domain and that appears correct. What I don't see yet is your tracking domain set up. If you can e-mail me directly or if you want to review the FAQ: http://bitly.pro/faq - I'm sure you are only moments away from working correctly.

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